The India Chronicles 2000-2001

Villain in Kathakali play

Sunset over the Kerala canals

continued from Episode 8: Page 1

Madurai is famous for its colourful temples, and our hotel was right next to Kudalagar Temple, a smaller version of the Sree Meenakshi Temple. Kudalagar, with a central tower dedicated to Vishnu and two smaller towers (gopurams) for Vishnu's two wives, had a resident elephant. Once or twice a day the handlers would walk the elephant next door to the yard in front of our hotel, much to the delight of the guests. We toured Kudalagar with the help of a guide. He led us around the dark corridors surrounding the ground floor temple to proudly show us the resident family of bats. We hoped they would stay asleep. For Rs 1 each, our guide got the keys to the tower stairs so that we could view the Vishnus on the upper two floors and go out on the roof to admire the gopurams up close. The exterior of all three gopurams was covered in stone sculptures, painted in the favourite rainbow sherbet colours, and depicting the life of Vishnu. The temples themselves are centuries old, but the painting of the sculptures started only about 100 years ago.

The next day we walked to the Sree Meenakshi Temple complex, where we had to remove our shoes and leave them for safekeeping across the street from the entrance gate. The Sree Meenakshi complex, encompassing 12 towers (gopurams), covers several hectares and is surrounded on all four sides by high walls. Entrance is through gates, crowned with the tallest towers, in the center of each side. Like the Kudalagar, the towers are covered in gaudily painted sculptures, this time depicting the life of Siva and his consort Meenakshi. Each of the two tallest towers has over 1,400 figures carved on its sides. There has been at least one temple on the Sree Meenakshi site for at least 2000 years, but the complex as it currently stands was built in the 15th and 16th C. The sculptures and all the many interior decorations get repainted every 5 or 6 years, employing 400 artists for 4 months. We toured the complex with a guide, who told us that Hindus consider a pilgrimage to Sree Meenakshi as important a life event as Muslims do a trip to Medina. The most popular time of year for the faithful to come is in April, when over 10,000 people per day come to watch the ceremonies marking the marriage of Siva. We watched the current worshippers wash their feet and hands in the huge tank near the North entrance before proceeding to pray at one or more of the many interior temples.

After finishing our temple tour, we wandered through the market complex across from the East gate. Madurai is known for its cotton and silk materials and we couldn't resist the sales pitch of one of the merchants. Tailors, working steadily at lines of machines in the market, sewmade to measure clothing in a matter of hours. We returned before supper that evening to try on and take home our purchases.

The last day of January we woke up to our second day of rain in India. We were on our way again. This time we took a long, 10-hour bus trip back to the western coast of India and the town of Ernakalum. The steady drizzle continued for almost half of our trip, including our ascent of the Western Ghats. Fortunately, the clouds lifted near the top and we were treated to a beautiful trip down the western side of the hills.

It was dark by the time we reached Ernakalum, so we found a hotel and asked the manager for a restaurant suggestion. He directed us to a local hotel and told us to be sure to stop at the temple across the street from the restaurant after dinner to participate in the festival in progress. We followed his recommendation and arrived at the temple just in time to hear the end of a performance by a traditional Indian orchestra. As they were finishing, mahoots readied seven elephants for their part in the proceedings. Large golden headdresses, stretching down their trunks, were placed on their heads. As soon as three were ready, their mahoot climbed on top and unfurled a fringed parasol. One priest, carrying a huge gold icon, climbed onto the center elephant, and the line of three elephants, followed by more temple priests with drums, cymbals and flutes and ending with a small crowd of worshipers, started to circle the main temple. A line of seven priests playing large circular trumpets greeted their return. All seven elephants were lined up behind the trumpeters, each now carrying three priests. We watched and listened until the whole procession started off around the temple again, then we went back to the hotel. It had been a long day.

The next morning we took a short, 15-minute ferry ride across the bay to Fort Cochin. This is a sleepy fishing and tourist town on a peninsula pointing north from the mainland. We hadn't decided how long we were going to stay, so we did all the tourist things the first day. The fisherman of Fort Cochin catch their fish using permanently mounted Chinese fishing nets. These look like giant Praying Mantises hanging over the water. Long bamboo poles, lashed together near the shore, secure each of the corners and the center of the net. At high tide, the poles are tilted to lower the net into the water. After a short time a group of up to seven men grab ropes attached to the poles and pull in unison to raise the net and inspect their catch. Their catch looked pretty meager to us. Next to the Chinese nets is a line of fish stalls, where you can choose your meal from the catch of the day. The fish is taken to one of the several outside restaurants facing the fish stalls, to be cooked to order. The choice is not limited by what comes from the Chinese Fishing Nets and the result is delicious.

After lunch, we took a rickshaw to the adjoining town of Mattancherry to visit Jew Town. Jewish people came to this area 1200 years ago and established a reputation as spice traders. There are only about 50 Jewish people left in the area, but the Synagogue, which we visited, is still active.

Our first visit was to a spice shop where we bought packages of masala mixtures and other spices. The owner told us to look out for the Pepper Exchange, around the corner. We followed a small group consisting of a Western couple and two Indians through the front door of an ordinary looking office building. A sign inside informed us that we needed special permission to view the trading. We got lucky. Just then one of the Indians with the group in front of us came out of the office saying that they were to go upstairs. Ray asked if we could come along, and the man said sure. We went up to an open room on the second floor, lined with open booths. The official group were introduced to two traders, father and son, who explained the operation to us. This is a commodity trading operation, dealing in futures of black pepper. The younger trader stopped to answer a telephone ringing in his booth and immediately all hell seemed to break loose. There were loud, demonstrative shouts between several of the other traders in the room while the deal was completed. It was quite exciting and reminded me of the TSE before the departure of the floor traders. We left the Western couple, who turned out to work for a spice company in the USA, thanked our hosts and went out to explore more shops in the area.

The streets are filled with interesting looking antique stores, but we decided it would be impossible to transport a large wooden chest or an entire wooden door back to Ottawa. We walked a short distance to see the Dutch Palace, now a museum. The Portuguese built the original building and presented it to the local Raj in the 16th C in return for trading concessions. The current name came into common usage after the Dutch took it over and made many renovations. The most interesting feature of the building are the murals, depicting Ramayama stories, painted on the walls of many of the rooms. In a downstairs ladies bedroom is a rather erotic scene of Krisha groping eight uncomplaining ladies, using all eight of his arms and two feet.

Applying makeup for show

Heroine in Kathakali play

That evening we went to a performance of Kathakali theatre. We went shortly after 5 PM to watch makeup being applied to the actors. The main character, the bad guy, has an elaborate green, red and black mask painted on his face by an artist. The mask was completed with the application of white paper wattles on his cheeks. The other two men, one taking the part of a heroine and the other the hero, applied their own makeup. The performance, done in mime, traditionally goes on for five or six hours, but we watched a small portion that lasted an hour. It began with an explanation of the elaborate eye and facial expressions and the hand and arm movements used to convey emotion and action. We were given an English precis of the plot, so it was easy to follow the story. The whole performance seemed to be similar to what I have read and seen about Chinese traditional theatre.

We decided we liked the slow pace of Fort Cochin, so we stayed another day just wandering about town and relaxing. Saturday morning we took the local bus down the coast to Appaluzha (Allepey).

Kerala reed houseboat

Houseboat poler

Lunch inside the boat

Our plan was to hire a houseboat to take us through the canals down the coast to Kollam. We found out our choices were to take the regular tourist boat that takes eight hours to reach Kollam or hire a private houseboat for a tour of Lake Vembanad, returning to Allepey in 24 hours. In fact, we could get on a houseboat right then, so instead of staying overnight in Allepey, we agreed to stay two nights on the houseboat. We took a rickshaw to the houseboat jetty and boarded our home for the next two days. The base of the boat is a traditional oversized wooden canoe. The roof is constructed of arched panels of woven bamboo covering a seating area in the front and one bedroom and bathroom. There was no motor on the boat. Instead a man at each end used a long bamboo pole to propel the boat. Sibi, the cook, who spent his time preparing large and delicious meals for us, completed our crew. Our days were spent sitting, reading and playing cards, while we drifted past lines of small houses built on narrow strips of reclaimed land between the lake waters and rice fields on the other side. At night, we moored off shore, near water lily fields that were home to many kinds of waterfowl.

Monday morning, we woke to discover we had moored for the night just off the houseboat jetty, so it was an easy process to complete our journey and to return to Allepey in time to catch the Tourist boat to Kollam. I was a little concerned that three days on the canals would be too much, but we are in gear down mode, and it was fun. The canals on the way to Kollam were similar to the lake, but wider and progressively more populated as we neared Kollam.

We stopped for a quick Thali lunch en route, then made a drop off and pick up stop at the Matha Amrithanandamayi Ashram. A woman guru, known world wide as the Hugging Mother is the guru. Miri, whom we had met previously in Ooty, rejoined our boat. She told us that they had been part of special festivities the day before. More than a thousand people arrived to be greeted personally and hugged by Amma. All kinds of special powers have been attributed to the Amma. Miri, who is not a stereotypical Israeli, was impressed that even without being told, the Amma greeted her with 'mazel tov'. People claimed their lives are changed after meeting the Amma, but Miri wouldn't go that far.

We spent the night in the forgettable town of Kollam and took the local bus the next morning to Varkala beach. This is where we are spending the rest of our time in India. The beach at Varkala doesn't compare to Goa, but the water is nice and warm and the waves are fun to ride. We have a nice room on the cliffs overlooking the most popular section of the beach. To reach the beach you have to walk very carefully down 100 meters of steps cut into the side of the red sandstone cliffs. Vigilant lifeguards, who blow their whistles to warn swimmers when they have strayed beyond the safe area, patrol Varkala beach. Apparently several people are drowned each year, but the tides were not overly strong while we were there and we are strong swimmers, so we chose to ignore any whistles that might have been directed at us.

Varkala is still an active fishing community and we liked to watch the fishermen launch their boats. They use two different kinds of boats. The most common is what I call a Kerala Kayak. It is simply three logs, tapered at one end and curved like a banana. The boat is self-bailing as the logs are simply lashed together at both ends. One or two fisherman paddle their craft like a kayak, using a bamboo length split in two as a two-ended paddle and cast a small net from the boat.

We watched a large cooperative effort several mornings. One of the large fishing boats, similar to the base of the houseboat we were on, and about five meters long and about than two meters wide, went out early to set a large net. The net was really a large purse attached to two long ropes, strung with floats to keep it on the surface. Both rope ends were anchored on the beach and the purse end floated about 200 meters from the shore. When the net was ready to be brought in, a crew of about 20 fisherman at each end of the net pulled from the shore. Other fishermen stayed in their small boats at the far end of the net to prevent any fish loss. A few other fishermen waded into the water to make sure the net was hauled in straight. The catch, when it was finally hauled in, was many small, silver fish that are used in fish masala. It looked like a lot of effort for a relatively small catch.

One day, word must have been passed that bigger fish were in the area. The large fishing boat set out again to set the net and there was great excitement when the second catch was hauled in. They had netted a large school of Butterfish, which are fat silver fish between two and four feet long. All the local people, including the restaurant owners, were haggling over the price and carrying their purchases home for dinner.

One afternoon we walked north from the main beach along a path along the top of the cliffs to explore some of the other, more private beaches that dot the coast. The first one we came to already had several sunbathers and swimmers, so we continued on. We watched a western couple get on one of the Kerala Kayaks with a fisherman and paddle in our direction. Suddenly, I noticed a fin come out of the water just ahead of the boat. It was a dolphin, come to greet them. There were at least two of them and they stayed quite close for a short while. The fellow on the boat jumped off a few times to try to swim nearer the dolphins, but they kept their distance. We stopped at a lovely, deserted beach, about 1/2 K long. The water was great and there were no beach hawkers to disturb the atmosphere.

Yesterday morning we walked along the cliffs to the south of the main beach. The cliffs are even higher at that end, so the beaches are more difficult to reach. We stopped at one of the few guesthouses along the cliff and took their path down the cliffs to the beach. The drop was twice the height of the main beach and I decided the paths at our end of the beach were a piece of cake in comparison. We walked back along the beach, wading into the water in places and scrambling over rocks in others. It is no wonder that these beaches are not very popular.

We plan to stay at the beach until Sunday afternoon, when we will take the bus to Thrivuvananthapuram (Trivandrum). From there we catch a flight Monday morning, via Bahrain and London, arriving back in Ottawa Tuesday, Feb 13. In the meantime we are enjoying the swimming and trying to avoid a last minute sunburn.

See you back in the Great White North.

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